Home-Cooked Meal

By afternoon, the rain grew lighter.

Ye Jingtang stepped out of the dungeon, his hand still resting on the hilt of his blade as he pondered the essential principles of the Tianhe Blade.

His recent exchange with Qiu Tianhe down in the dungeon could be considered successfully learning the Tianhe Blade.

Yet the Tianhe Blade was a rare internal martial art among saber techniques, entirely different from his Adoptive Father's style. He could only claim to know how to use it now, but he completely lacked any understanding of its inner meaning and was far from proficient. It was still much too early, and frankly absurd, to go teach Prince Jing right now, so he still needed a couple of days to familiarize himself with it.

As these thoughts turned in his mind, he walked out of the dungeon entrance. Ye Jingtang glanced back at Jade Resonance Tower, intending only to sweep it with a look and keep moving, when he unexpectedly caught the faint sound of a mature woman's voice drifting through the drizzle:

"What are you thinking? Sending this kind of item..."

"You're the lonely one, really..."

"No, no, it's so embarrassing~..."

The voice was shy and unbearable, carrying a three-tenths trace of annoyance, yet it was tender, soft, and exceedingly pleasant to the ear.

Just hearing the voice was enough to picture a stunning, aristocratic matron biting her lower lip, pushing someone away with a mixture of shyness and vexation.

Slightly puzzled, Ye Jingtang wanted to hear who she was talking to and what they were saying.

The moment he pricked up his ears, however, a whisper akin to an ancient deity's sounded right beside him:

"Young Master, please?"

The voice came so abruptly that even Ye Jingtang, who considered his martial arts quite respectable, was startled into a shiver.

Turning his head to look, he saw an old woman with hair trailing to the ground standing three paces to his side. Her back was slightly hunched, her left hand clasped behind her, and her right hand held flat, gesturing toward the outside of the Black Bureau.

Though this was Ye Jingtang's first time meeting the white-haired old woman, he could guess from her attire that she was, in all likelihood, one of the Black Bureau's twin floral red poles-the White-Haired Truth-Listener Meng Jiao.

The Eight-Armed Ksitigarbha and the White-Haired Truth-Listener were both top-tier grandmasters, not to mention "national team" instructors. Inconspicuous as they looked, one could easily imagine how much weight they carried in the jianghu.

Caught red-handed eavesdropping on a prince's manor's female relatives, Ye Jingtang felt thoroughly embarrassed. After offering a cupped-fist salute, he quickened his pace and headed out of the Black Bureau. He took a few steps and looked back to check-the dungeon entrance was completely empty, as if the moment before had merely been an illusion.

Such lightness in qinggong...

Like a ghost...

With lingering fear in his heart, Ye Jingtang hurried out of the Black Bureau, mounted his horse to retrace his path, and wondered along the way what identity the aristocratic matron from earlier might hold.

Anyone who could stand atop Jade Resonance Tower and chat without a single care must have possessed a very noble status, though it hardly sounded like the Empress.

During his strolls around the Capital City over the past few days, he had privately made inquiries into the court's situation.

The reigning Empress was Prince Jing's older sister; the two were close in age, and no one dared bring up what their looks were like, save for the fact that their dispositions were decisive and their methods ruthless.

Prince Jing possessed a supermodel's figure and peerless beauty, so the Empress presumably wouldn't fall short of that. An empress like that shouldn't sound so coy when she spoke.

As for anyone else...

Ye Jingtang knew very few people and truly couldn't think of who it might be, so he simply assumed she was one of Prince Jing's close kin.

He needed to enter the palace to find the Dragon-Mingling Diagram. Come to think of it, he had also asked around about rumors concerning things like "kept men" over the last few days.

Judging from those inquiries, both Empress sisters kept themselves very clean and had no rumors of keeping male favorites...

As a side note, Dowager Empress Qin, who lived a secluded widow's life deep within the palace, was the same...

Yet relying on selling one's looks and deceiving a woman's affections just to sneak into the palace and take something felt somewhat unconscionable no matter how he thought about it.

The remaining path was to diligently practice qinggong and infiltrate the Inner Palace.

The probability of success with this method was quite high, but the risks were undoubtedly immense. With a ghost-like ruthless entity such as the White-Haired Truth-Listener by Prince Jing's side alone, he didn't even dare imagine what the Empress might have around her. If he were caught, Niao Niao would probably be turned into squab soup...

Cutting across the bustling market street, he unconsciously returned to the alley entrance of Dyeing Street.

Though he heard no sounds, from afar he could already catch the fragrance of stir-fried shredded pork.

Neither yesterday nor today had Ye Jingtang eaten a proper meal. Catching the scent stirred his appetite greatly, and he quickly arrived outside the courtyard. Looking in over the low wall-a bench sat beneath the eaves, where Little Heroine Zhe was seated outside the kitchen, splitting firewood with a hatchet. Her blade technique was decent, but she was somewhat unpracticed at the manual labor, splitting the pieces into uneven lengths.

Smoke rose from the kitchen with its windows open. Lady Luo, wearing an apron, bustled back and forth between the chopping board and the stove, keeping rice warm on a small hearth.

Niao Niao was also extremely diligent. Perched atop the stove, it opened its beak and waited to help taste-test.

Ye Jingtang pushed open the courtyard gate and lifted the two small jars of wine in his hands:

"Dinner's already made? It just so happens I bought two jars of small wine on the way, the Spring Sun Brew from Paulownia Street. I had a cup back at the Golden Screen Tower last time, and it's exceptionally fragrant..."

Having already heard his footsteps, Luo Ning lifted her eyes to glance at Ye Jingtang. Her mood from being bullied last night had yet to settle, and she remained silent.

Zhe Yunli proved far more enthusiastic. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the hatchet away, where it nailed itself firmly into a log of firewood. She sprang to her feet and rushed over to take the wine jars:

"Brother Jingtang, how did things go with the Black Bureau?"

"Very smoothly. I went to find Hero Qiu to learn blade techniques, and he agreed. Once I master it in a couple of days and teach it to Prince Jing, we should be able to fish the man out."

"You don't think Prince Jing will learn the blade technique and then turn her back on her word, do you?"

"What Prince Jing has her eye on is my skill. If she goes back on her word, how will she rally people to her side? Besides, it's not like letting a tiger back into the mountains; having Hero Qiu spend his twilight years in the Capital City amounts to just moving him to a different cell. There's no need to bluff me."

Amidst their casual chatter, Ye Jingtang entered the kitchen. Casting a quick glance around and finding no wine cups, he spoke up:

"Yunli, do me a favor and go buy a set of wine utensils from the sundry shop on the street. Thanks."

"You got it."

Zhe Yunli immediately grabbed her umbrella and made to head out the door.

Luo Ning hadn't paid much attention at first, but after giving the vegetables a couple of stirs in the pan, she sensed something was amiss-if he was able to buy wine, how could he possibly forget to buy wine utensils?

!

Luo Ning's iceberg-like face stiffened slightly, and she hastily turned her head back:

"Yunli..."

Zhe Yunli's legs were remarkably nimble, and there was already no trace of her figure left in the courtyard.

At the same time, Ye Jingtang had already walked up beside her and stroked the large Niao Niao:

"Lady Luo really has wonderful culinary skills."

"..."

Luo Ning took a step to the side, avoiding looking at Ye Jingtang:

"Ye Jingtang! If you dare to push your luck any further, don't blame me for sparing no courtesies."

Ye Jingtang had noticed that morning that Luo Ning was indeed somewhat displeased. Knowing himself that he had been a bit impulsive yesterday, he felt quite guilty inside.

He took a piece of emerald-green jade pendant from his sleeve, placed it on the chopping board, and walked behind the stove to poke at the fire:

"Don't let your imagination run wild. The Black Bureau gave me the Dragon Pool Tourmaline. There's only one pendant; giving it to you right in front of Yunli would easily make her misunderstand."

Luo Ning swept a glance over the Dragon Pool Tourmaline: "You knew there'd be misunderstandings, yet you still gave me a pendant? What do you mean by this?"

"How can you call it a gift? Last night we joined forces to capture a thief; there's no way I could swallow the spoils all by myself. Surely Lady Luo doesn't want to give everything to me-that would really make my mind wander."

On second thought, Luo Ning realized it made sense. She tucked the jade pendant into her bodice:

"This is what I've earned, not something you gifted me. Once I leave the Capital, I'll take it to the Watercloud Sword Pool to exchange for the bounty."

No matter how she phrased it, those words were clearly meant to intentionally vex Ye Jingtang.

Ye Jingtang smiled and shook his head: "It's your item, so naturally you can dispose of it however you please."

Sizzle, sizzle...

The rising steam inside the wok obscured their vision, and their conversation came to a halt.

Luo Ning stir-fried the vegetables with practiced motions, yet she was obviously somewhat absent-minded. Out of the corner of her eye, she kept watch on Ye Jingtang as he tended the stove fire, and she ended up tossing in the seasonings haphazardly.

After a brief silence, Luo Ning couldn't help speaking up once more:

"Get out. Stop lingering here."

"Does Lady Luo find me that hard to look at?"

Luo Ning set down her spatula, her clear and cold gaze fixed on Ye Jingtang with the air of someone ready to throw in the towel and shout, 'I'm done with this life!'

Shaking his head, Ye Jingtang stood up and walked outside to split the firewood Zhe Yunli had left unfinished.

Only then did Luo Ning relax and resume cooking. In the middle of it, she picked out a piece of stir-fried pork, blew on it, and fed it into the eagerly waiting beak of Niao Niao.

Niao Niao's bright eyes caught it, and then...

"Gug...?!l"

Niao Niao twitched twice, unusually closing its beak, and nodded like a pounding pestle, taking it as praise for Sister Little Watermelon's wonderful culinary skills.

With a little hop, Niao Niao then bounced out the door, sidled up to Ye Jingtang, and earnestly watched him split firewood...

As the fragrance of food filled the courtyard, the rain finally stopped.

"Time to eat~"

Carrying dishes through the tidy courtyard to the main room, Zhe Yunli discovered Niao Niao squatting inside its birdhouse beneath the eaves and asked in confusion:

"Why aren't you in such a monkey-rush today?"

"Chirp, chirp~"

Niao Niao grandly waved a wing, signaling that Niao Niao was already full.

Ye Jingtang seated himself at the table, uncorked the wine jars, and poured drinks for the two females, one large and one small.

Luo Ning took the master seat and helped dish out the rice. Her gaze still avoided Ye Jingtang, though with Yunli present, her demeanor was far more natural.

Once all the dishes were fully served, Ye Jingtang raised his wine cup:

"Come, cheers. Here's to wishing Hero Qiu an early release from the sea of bitterness."

Extremely polite, Zhe Yunli hurried to raise her wine cup with both hands:

"With Hero Qiu's life in no danger, both my master's wife and I owe Brother Jingtang a massive favor. My master's wife and I will toast you first."

Luo Ning was hardly in the mood to toast Ye Jingtang, but since Yunli had already said the words, she couldn't very well refuse. She thought better of it, set down her chopsticks, raised her cup with both hands, and clinked it against Ye Jingtang's.

Clink~

Luo Ning covered her mouth with her sleeve and drained it in one gulp. A peach blossom flush immediately bloomed across her fair cheeks, making her look as though she didn't often drink, while her naturally dreamy and mesmerizing eyes grew misty.

Zhe Yunli's alcohol tolerance was actually quite good; a large gulp went down without even turning her face red. She leaned close to her master's wife, gently stroked her back to help her smooth her breath, and chuckled:

"This is the first time I've ever seen Master's Wife drink. You're a lucky man, Brother Jingtang. If people in the jianghu knew..."

"Yunli!"

Knowing that Zhe Yunli meant to say 'The Moon Palace Goddess is toasting you,' Luo Ning darkened her gaze and cut her off.

Zhe Yunli sheepishly muttered, "I'm not stupid, I was just saying it casually. Is it really that spicy?"

Luo Ning set down her cup and replied blandly:

"Average."

Ye Jingtang didn't pick up the thread either. He picked up his chopsticks, picked out a piece of stir-fried shredded pork that looked and smelled appetizing, and chewed slightly...

Oh, mother dear!

No wonder the little foolish bird stood outside...

Ye Jingtang could be considered a true man; he chewed the throat-searingly salty pork without changing expression, took a gulp of wine to wash it down, and simultaneously glanced sideways at Lady Luo to see if she was intentionally torturing him.

It didn't quite look like it...

That meant her absent-mindedness had caused her performance to fail disastrously...

Zhe Yunli smilingly poured herself a cup of wine and also popped a piece of the stir-fried pork into her mouth.

Her face immediately turned green!

Yet this was food her master's wife had painstakingly made; if she spit it out on the spot, how heartbroken her master's wife would be?

Grit her teeth, Zhe Yunli swallowed it down. With wide eyes, she stared at Ye Jingtang, presumably asking-How on earth did you manage to eat that?!

Ye Jingtang picked up another large mouthful of food for Zhe Yunli and said solicitously:

"You're still growing, eat more."

You scoundrel!!!

Zhe Yunli clenched her teeth while keeping her expression unchanged, and likewise picked up a large helping for Ye Jingtang:

"Brother Jingtang is a man and has to go out to handle affairs. You should eat more yourself. How is Master's Wife's cooking?"

"Extremely wonderful."

Without changing his expression, Ye Jingtang grit his teeth and swallowed it raw.

The family of three ate their home-cooked meal just like that, creating a rather warm atmosphere.

Luo Ning ate with a somewhat ethereal grace, favoring light flavors and disliking greasy food, so she simply stuck to eating the plain stir-fried greens.

Seeing Ye Jingtang and Zhe Yunli acting so intimate with their mutual "brotherly-friendliness and sisterly-respectfulness," she felt quite displeased inside.

Yet as the two of them kept picking food for each other and gradually stopped talking as they ate, only burying their heads to drink, it finally made Luo Ning notice something was wrong.

Luo Ning picked up her chopsticks to taste the stir-fried pork, and her face instantly changed color. Believing someone must have poisoned the dish, she irritably snapped:

"So salty... If it tastes bad, can't you say so? You're just forcing yourselves to eat it!"

Ye Jingtang chuckled twice and raised a hand in gesture:

"Mo si mo si... Cough, cough..."

"I was just curious..."

Unable to hold it in any longer, Zhe Yunli sprang up to grab the teapot and poured it straight down her throat:

"Glug, glug, glug..."

?!

Luo Ning glared at the two lunatics. She looked as though she wanted to laugh, but forcefully held it in. She lightly patted the table, stood up to head out the door, scooped up Niao Niao-who had been poking its head in from outside to watch the show-and treated it to a fierce lecture:

"What is wrong with you?"

"Chirp..."